My teenage daughter asked if we could go hiking this weekend. Of course! BTW she never wants to go hiking! Anyway, she asked if she could bring her BFF along and I said sure, why not?! Who knew hiking with teenagers could be so fun?!
I invited my friend Shannon to go along as well and of course, my 13-year-old son was more than happy to go when he found out we would be hiking at Chalk Ridge Falls instead of Dana Peak Park.
He likes Chalk Ridge Falls better due to more vegetation and scenery. Granted I have yet to take him back into Dana Peak where it’s prettier.
So, we headed out; the weather was perfect. However, instead of following the trail, we decided to follow the creek bed instead to see where it would lead us. I had yet to venture very far down it, so it was a welcome adventure.
Shutterbugs can be annoying, I admit
My daughter is starting to take after me and wanting to learn about photography, so she had her phone out the entire time and we stopped about every 5 minutes so she could capture some photos. It was then that I realized that for those who are not shutterbugs, how annoying I might be with my camera (I didn’t have my camera this time).
I did give her my very first DSLR that I ever bought, however, failed to realize I no longer had an SD card for it as all my other cameras use CF cards; hence the reason she was using her phone.
The view walking through the creek bed was AMAZING! For anyone venturing to Chalk Ridge Falls, I suggest walking the creek bed!
Distract them with geocaching
Of course, teenagers like to explore and are faster than me. However, I finally slowed them down when I asked if they would like to do some geocaching, thankfully they said yes! So about halfway into our hike, we started looking for geocaches.
The first one we were unable to locate, however, the second one was a great cache and had plenty of swag. The kids each chose an item and I replaced it with items I had for geocache swag in my backpack.
Did I mention we had to do a bunch of climbing!? I was wore out. If I knew I was going to do some rock climbing I would have worn the right shoes!
Instead of climbing back down, I knew we were pretty close to the road so I decided we would bushwhack our way to it in order to save some time and my legs!
Near the road, in the thick brush and woods, the kids found some old bottles (they were actually pretty cool) and what appeared to be bones that belonged to a deer. For some reason, they were fascinated by all the “finds” in the woods.
Maybe, I need to get them out more!
Oh and a huge thanks to Shannon for putting up with us! We only did 2 miles, but I think she will agree that it felt like more!
That’s cool that they went with you. It does them good to get outdoors and experience a whole different world. Believe it or not, but you just made a memory for them today!
When yall gonna come visit so we can hike here
Looks like a great place!
The hike looks lovely, and definitely more fun when you’re surrounded by people you love! I also take a lot of photos on my hikes, but my family and friends are pretty used to it by now. They pose, sigh, and move along, hah! I can’t wait to hike some more when I’m in Washington next month!